It is known in the art relating to internal combustion engines to use a crankcase emission control system, such as a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system, to remove crankcase vapors (including unburned fuel and combustion products that leak past the piston rings, oil vapors, and other vapors present in the crankcase) from the crankcase. To prevent excessive pressure in the crankcase and the buildup of combustion byproducts, PCV systems evacuate the crankcase vapors from the crankcase into the engine cylinder intake air system so that the crankcase vapors are burned in the engine combustion process. It is undesirable for engine oil vapors and droplets to be entrained in the crankcase vapors that are passed to the intake air system. Therefore, many PCV systems include an oil separation system or device to remove entrained oil from the crankcase vapors before the crankcase vapors are burned.
Conventionally, a PCV system will include an oil separator, such as a series of baffles and chambers to change the velocity and direction of crankcase vapors prior to the crankcase vapors being fed to the combustion chambers for burning. The baffle and chamber arrangement causes oil droplets entrained in the crankcase gases to separate out, reducing the amount of engine oil consumed by the engine during combustion. Other oil separator devices have also been utilized.